US troops kill seven Iraqis stealing fuel

Seven Iraqis believed to have been stealing fuel from a pipeline were killed yesterday in a firefight with US troops near the town of Samarra, north of Baghdad, the US military said.

Master Sergeant Robert Cargie, spokesman of the 4th Infantry Division based in the northern city of Tikrit, said US troops approaching the pipeline had encountered about 40 men armed with AK-47 automatic rifles.

Cargie said soldiers had been led to the pipeline, 18 kilometres south of Samarra, by an Iraqi informant.

"As they tried to capture them (the Iraqis), the soldiers came under fire. They returned fire, killing seven," Cargie said, adding that three fuel trucks were destroyed as well as a transport truck.

He said other men fled the scene of the shooting, where three AK-47s were later recovered.

A fuel shortage in oil-rich Iraq, leading to long lines at petrol stations and flared tempers, has been blamed on rampant black-marketeering and sabotage of pipelines.